Life After Death/Issue 9
"That's a lot of people," Devon said as he scanned the surroundings. Their camp seemed to have been built off of a small strip-mall in the middle of the country. "Fifty-three, to be exact," Alvin responded. "Well, fifty-four now...if you do join us. We've been expanding a lot - this started out about two months ago with nine people. We're making an effort to create a functioning community here. I know you may think we're assholes for taking other people's supplies, but, we need supplies, too. There's not many places around here that still have supplies, and with all these people going towards Harter, it just makes sense." "What do you mean 'if I join'?" "Well, I'm not going to just let you in without getting to know you. For all I know, you could be a planning to sabotage us or something." Alvin chuckled. "Ha, yeah..." Alvin looked at Devon, skeptically. "What was your name, again?" "Devon." "Well, Devon, come on down, I'll show you around." Alvin gestured for Devon to climb down the rusty ladder that was placed against the other side of the bus, which was bare, revealing it's bright, yellow color. Devon started to climb down, Alvin looked back at the road, gazing into the distance for a moment, before climbing down the ladder himself. "So, you said something happened to you?" Alvin asked once he reached the bottom. "Oh, yeah," Devon nervously replied, desperately thinking of an excuse. "We were attacked by the undead a little while ago, some asshole decided to be selfish and not help and...my sister..." "Ah. Losing loved ones is tough on us all. I lost my father and sister not that long ago. It was a little bit after we started building this place. Rotters broke down a wall, we lost a lot of good people. My man, Jon...he lost his friend in that, too. Ever since then, we've been taking extra precautions around the walls to prevent that from happening. Well, come on, I'll walk you around. Oh, uh, first, you're gonna need to hand me your weapons." Devon pulled out a knife from his pocket, and handed it to Alvin. "That's it," he said. "Hey, Pablo!" Alvin called out. "Come down and give him a search." Pablo climbed down the latter and leaped off the end, kicking up a small amount of dirt when he landed. He approached Devon, who raised his arms in the air. Pablo patted down his sides, and then down his back and torso. He bent down and patted his legs, and then reached out and put his hand on Devon's ass. "Hey!" Devon yelled. "What the fuck, man?" "Protocol," Pablo said with a smirk. Devon dropped his hands into the front of his pants, which was where he was hiding his pistol. "No, fuck that. I'm not letting you touch my dick." Devon slid the gun around the side of his pants so that Pablo wouldn't feel it. "Move your damn hands, Devon," Alvin demanded, and Devon did just that. Pablo reached out and groped Devon's crotch, much to his discomfort. Pablo stood up, and turned to Alvin. "He's clean," he said. "Alright, well, let's get on, shall we?" Alvin said as Pablo turned and started climbing back up the ladder. He turned and started slowly walking towards their camp, and Devon hesitantly followed, while reaching down the back of his pants and pulling the gun up to a holstered position. ---- They walked past a stout, bald man with an intimidating face. He was wearing a red muscle shirt and a black vest over top, along with ripped jeans and black gloves. "That's Frank," Alvin said. "He's the guy that does the dirty work around here...kind of a hard ass." "Who's that?" Devon asked as he pointed to a man standing outside a building. He was quite buff, and had short, light brown hair, pointy ears, a blue jacket, and was armed with a shotgun. "That's Terry. He's one of our guards." "What's he guarding?" "That is none of your concern. Now, Devon, if you want to join this community, you are going to need a job. We are all split up into certain roles, we have border patrollers, guards, cooks, construction workers, supply runners, inventory workers, you name it. We're going to need to figure out what you specialize in." Devon looked around him. He noticed some men in overalls hammering wood together near some of the buildings, presumably constructing houses for people to live in. He saw people armed with guns walking around, patrolling the area. He looked into the distance, finally getting a chance to look at the rest of the walls. There were old, rusty, beaten up cars piled on top of each other, surrounding the community, with pieces of wood placed on top of the cars for easy movement, along with some ladders rested against them for access. There were multiple people pacing back and forth on the walls, armed with guns and radios. "Well?" Alvin said, interrupting Devon's observations. "I'm a good shot," Devon replied after a pause. "I could work the walls." "Are you, now? Well, I'm going to have to see that for myself. In fact..." Alvin trailed off as he walked towards Devon. He reached behind him, and pulled the gun from his pants. "You can use the gun you brought." "What? How did you...?" "After forty-two years of being on this planet, you learn a thing or two. I was waiting to see if you'd pull it on me or not. It was a test of observance, intelligence, and trust. For now, you pass, but if I ever catch you disobeying an order or smuggling weapons into here again, there will be consequences. Understand?" "Yes." "Good. Come on, let's go back to the wall." The two men walked back to the bus, and climbed up the ladder. Devon jumped over, and turned around. "Aren't you coming?" "I'll be right back. You stay here with Pablo." Devon nervously looked up at Pablo, who gave him a smirk in return. Devon stepped back a bit, and put his hands in his pocket, waiting for Alvin to return. After about ten minutes, Alvin walked around the corner with two rotters, both being lead by animal control poles. "Where'd you get those?" Devon asked. "It doesn't matter. Here." Alvin tossed the gun across the road to Devon. He stepped behind one of the rotters, letting it see Devon and target him. "Back up a little bit." Devon took a few steps back. "Keep going, keep going." Devon continued backing up, waiting for Alvin to tell him to stop. "Alright, that's good! Now, when I let this rotter go, take your shot. Got it?" "Yeah." "Alright...fire!" Alvin released the pole, and the undead started shuffling across the grass. Devon aimed the gun, closed one eye, and tilted his head, lining up the sights perfectly. He waited a second, and pulled the trigger. *BOOM* The bullet flew into the rotters skull, causing it to fall to the ground, dead. "Damn, nice shot." Alvin congratulated Devon. "Now, let's try it one more time." Alvin lead the rotter in front of him and released the pole, letting it go after Devon as the previous one did. Devon repeated what he did before, and fired, killing the rotter with one shot. "You really weren't kidding," Alvin stated. "I am truly impressed. I'll start working in a schedule for you tomorrow. This is perfect timing, considering the group we have heading out in two days." Devon stared at Alvin, shocked to hear this news. "People are leaving?" Devon asked. "Yeah, we have some construction to do elsewhere. We're sending a few guards and half of our construction crew down there. We'll be a little strapped for firepower around here, but that shouldn't be too bad. We'll still have a few people, and now you'll be joining there. Of course, I'm still going to need to see that I can trust you; I can't be putting you on the walls, armed with a gun, when I don't know if you'll start shooting up the camp or not." "You can trust me, I wouldn't try to screw up my chances in a place like this." "That's good to hear, but I'm going to need to see if you keep to your word." "Okay." "Well, I should probably take you to your, uh, 'home'. It's just a tent, nothing too fancy. We have a lot of extras, come on." Alvin walked Devon back through their camp, passing by the same places as before. When they reached the spot Terry was guarding, they took a left around the building, where two rows of tents of varying colors, shapes, and sizes were lined up. Alvin walked Devon nearly to the end, and stopped right beside one on the right. It was medium sized, spherical, and yellow in color. "It's not much, but it'll keep you dry and warm. There are already blankets and pillows inside, so you can get right at home. It's gonna get late soon, are you hungry?" "Yeah, I haven't had much to eat today," Devon admitted. "Well, in about an hour, Jessica will serve up dinner for everyone. You can meet us across the street if you want." "Alright, thanks, I'll be there." ---- After dinner, a dinner in which Devon felt exceedingly uncomfortable and foreign, Devon lay in his tent, staring at the stars, which he could barely make out through the translucent, yellow material. The day's events were racing through his mind. He needed to find out what was in that room, and he needed to tell Eric about the people leaving in two days. Devon sprang up, and slowly unzipped his tent. "Let's go, Devon," he said to himself. "Time to do what you were sent here for." Devon stepped outside, and quietly zipped his tent back up. He crouched, and slowly walked down the road, keeping to the side so he could leap into the grass if need be. He approached the side of the building that Terry was guarding, and poked his head around the corner. Nobody was there. He looked up at the wall and saw Pablo walking back and forth. He slipped around the corner and started walking, when he looked back. I need to know what's in there, he thought to himself. Devon looked back at Pablo, who was completely oblivious to Devon's presence. He turned back to the building, and reached for the doorknob. He turned it, and pushed. The door opened, much to Devon's surprise. He reached for his gun, but nothing was there. He then remembered that Alvin took it and never gave it back. "Shit," he whispered into the air. He took a few deep breaths, and opened the door. There was a large, empty room, dimly being lit by the moonlight shining through the door. Devon looked around, and spotted a staircase to the left. He slowly shut the door behind him, and approached the staircase. He quietly and sheepishly walked down the stairs. He reached a landing, which turned into a few more stairs to his right, which lead into a room that was dim, but clearly lit by an artificial light. He reached the end of the stairs, and looked on in horror. Credits * * * * * Deaths *None Trivia *First appearance of . *First mention of .